Related Links

Chipola snaps Gulf Coast baseball streak, pulls into first-place tie

By Brad Milner | News Herald Writer Twitter: @PCNHBradMilner

Published: Wednesday, April 9, 2014 at 11:12 PM.

Meantime, Chipola starter and winner Michael Mader kept GC off balance, giving up only four hits through 5 2/3 innings. Mader walked four, however, but none of those batters scored. Conversely, GC relievers walked seven and hit five batters and Chipola capped the rout with five runs in the ninth.

“We’ve done everything pretty well. Today, other than the defense we did none of it,” GC coach Mike Kandler said. “Hopefully it was a one-time deal and we get back to it Friday.”

GC had a brief rally with three runs in the sixth and added minor threats in the fifth and eighth innings. Max Bartlett’s two-run double plated Tevin Johnson and Dalton Dugger in the sixth and Jeff Johnson used three more pitchers to seal the outcome.

GC had one hit and three baserunners the rest of the way. Chipola surged to its sixth win in seven games behind Rice’s four hits and three runs scored and Merrigan’s three raps, including a double and two RBIs. Mars, Scott and Jason Sierra each finished with two hits for the Indians.

The teams complete the two-game and season series at 2 p.m. on Friday in Marianna. Then it’s on to the final six-game stretch to determine the champion and runner-up.

The Indians halted Gulf Coast’s nine-game winning streak with a 12-3 baseball victory at Bill Frazier Field. It led to a first-place tie between the teams at 10-3 in the Panhandle Conference. And perhaps more importantly, it was Chipola’s third win in four meetings with GC and secured the head-to-head tiebreaker regardless of what happens Friday in Marianna.

Barring a major collapse, Chipola (31-8) and GC (33-9) will advance to the state tournament as the top two teams in the conference. Tallahassee and Northwest Florida State are battling for third place and a spot in a one-game playoff to determine the expanded 10-team field. Head-to-head will be used to split co-champions should two teams tie atop the standings.

Chipola coach Jeff Johnson noted the importance of winning the conference title, as the new bracketing forces a few teams to play one more game. Winning the title assures of one less game in Lakeland.

“With the 10-team bracket, you have what we call the unfortunate two in the Panhandle and Suncoast” conferences, Johnson said. “It’s a big difference (between first and second). We knew we had to get one of these two.”

The season is far from over, of course, but Chipola again asserted its dominance over GC with a third straight victory in the series. The Indians rapped out 19 hits against five GC pitchers, including 10 off West Covington, who fell to 9-2 with his first loss in six decisions.

Twelve of those 19 hits came in the opening four innings highlighted by RBI triples from Danny Mars and Josh Merrigan coming in the third. Ian Rice and Chase Scott also had RBI doubles in the four-run third that chased Covington from the game after 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Meantime, Chipola starter and winner Michael Mader kept GC off balance, giving up only four hits through 5 2/3 innings. Mader walked four, however, but none of those batters scored. Conversely, GC relievers walked seven and hit five batters and Chipola capped the rout with five runs in the ninth.

“We’ve done everything pretty well. Today, other than the defense we did none of it,” GC coach Mike Kandler said. “Hopefully it was a one-time deal and we get back to it Friday.”

GC had a brief rally with three runs in the sixth and added minor threats in the fifth and eighth innings. Max Bartlett’s two-run double plated Tevin Johnson and Dalton Dugger in the sixth and Jeff Johnson used three more pitchers to seal the outcome.

GC had one hit and three baserunners the rest of the way. Chipola surged to its sixth win in seven games behind Rice’s four hits and three runs scored and Merrigan’s three raps, including a double and two RBIs. Mars, Scott and Jason Sierra each finished with two hits for the Indians.

The teams complete the two-game and season series at 2 p.m. on Friday in Marianna. Then it’s on to the final six-game stretch to determine the champion and runner-up.